Opposite expectations for Burbank, Burroughs girls' tennis teams

Burbank is hoping to vie for league championship, while Burroughs just hopes to put a competitive team on the court.

August 27, 2013|By Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com

(Tim Berger Staff…)

The Burbank High and Burroughs girls' tennis teams experienced different results in the Pacific League last season.

Behind a balanced lineup, the Bulldogs were competitive in league and finished second behind champion Arcadia. The Indians, on the other hand, struggled and finished second to last in league.

Leading into the 2013 season, it looks like last year's trends are continuing with the two local teams.

Although Burbank lost some key seniors to graduation, the Bulldogs have a strong group of returners that coach Loi Phan expects to contend for the league championship.

Things are different for Burroughs, which lost a crop of seniors. Coach Roy Bernhardt said he is hoping his squad will at least be able to be competitive and that reaching the postseason might be a stretch for the Indians.

Here is a closer look at how the teams are shaping up.

BURBANK

Coming off a season in which they went 13-3, the biggest lost to the Bulldogs was the graduation of Ashley Basco. Basco played singles for most of the season a year ago and teamed with Meredy Gharabegi to play doubles for the league tournament and the postseason.

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The pair finished runner-up in league and did well in the CIF Southern Section Individuals Tournament at Whittier Narrows Tennis Center. Following a first-round bye, Basco and Gharabegi earned a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Nana Akahoshi and Nancy Liang (No. 2 from the Almont League) of San Gabriel before suffering a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Sachi Carlson and Sara Khattab (No. 2 from the Bay League) of Peninsula in the third round.

"Ashley was able to make it to the individual playoffs in doubles for three years, so that was a big loss for us," Phan said. "But we are hoping that we have some girls who are going to be able to step it up this season.

"I like to say that we have a pretty old, new team. We have some girls who are back and some good young ones as well. We have a lot of seniors, but we also have four freshmen right now and the way that they're going there's a chance they all could be on varsity."

Back to bolster the singles is Gharabegi, who is a senior. She will be joined by junior Lilit Vardanyan and senior Elizabeth Sanchez.

"Those are three key players from last year, so we are hoping they are going to step up," Phan said. "We had a pretty good turnout during the summer, so that was good."